MANCHESTER UNITED Supporters’ Trust has called on the Glazers to quickly conclude their sale of the club.
The club was put up for sale in November but the American owners have been happy to wait for their asking price to be met.
AFPThe Manchester United Supporters’ Trust have called on the Glazers to speed up the sale[/caption]
There are willing suitors but the Glazers further delayed the takeover process this week by opening up a third round of bids.
The Trust [MUST] have called on the family to avoid further delay, pointing out Erik ten Hag needs to know how much funds will be available in the summer.
They claim United are in “dire need of new investment” amid interest from Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Qatari Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani.
MUST released a statement that reads: “When it was announced in November that the Glazers were undertaking a “strategic review” and inviting offers to buy the Club, MUST welcomed the news and went on to urge the majority owners to move ahead with the process with speed, so that any period of uncertainty was as short as possible.
“Nearly five months on, we read speculation that offers from prospective buyers remain below the Glazers valuation, and that a third round of offers will now be invited.
“With Erik Ten Hag having made such great progress in his first season, and with the vital summer transfer window a matter of weeks away, the news of these delays and further prolonged uncertainty are of great concern.
“Erik needs to know what resources he has to spend so he can make the signings the club needs, and the whole management resources of the club need to be focussed on supporting him in that. That cannot be the case with the future ownership so unclear.
“We are also unable to move forward on major investment projects – not least the stadium redevelopment as we remain in limbo.
BETTING SPECIAL – BEST FOOTBALL BETTING SITES IN THE UK
“We are in dire need of new investment, which undoubtedly requires new ownership. MUST, along with United fans all around the world, are calling for this process to be concluded without further delay.”
United legend Gary Neville also slammed the Glazers for delaying the takeover and accused them of trying to drive up the price.
He said: “I think what scares Man Utd fans most is the feeling this Man Utd ownership are running this process to drive a massive price up.
“To try to somehow establish a level which means two of them can stay in and the rest of the family that want out can be bought out by an American fund who wouldn’t mind owning a minority or significant share but not the entirety of the share.
“That’s the biggest concern. The whole emphasis at this moment in time from Man Utd fans is this has to be the end of the Glazer ownership.
“They’ve run out of money, they’ve not invested in the stadium… the fans want a new stadium, whether that’s Old Trafford refurbished or a new one rebuilt, we need new facilities.
“Man Utd’s stadium is behind a lot of the big [clubs] in Europe.
“I still think there is a focus that this isn’t one big charade that the Glazers are running to try to establish a value which would be for their brothers and sisters to exit and the couple that wants to stay in to stay.
“There’s a priority at this moment in time for them to go.”